Rural Voices Radio: Today’s Current Events are Tomorrow’s Oral History

“Rural Voices Radio: Mississippi Voices Sharing Their Stories of Place”, presented by Emily Noble, was perhaps the most moving presentation at the Mississippi Historical Society’s 2007 Conference.

“Rural Voices Radio” encourages school children to write personal stories in their own voices.  Selected stories are recorded by the students and broadcast over Mississippi’s public radio stations.  If the story isn’t selected for radio, the child receives feedback and the chance to revise the story and submit it again.

Students record their stories in a professional recording studio, frequently traveling to another town to do so.  Each child receives a CD containing their story. 

Emily Noble brought her CD player and played several stories for us.  All were personal stories of surviving Hurricane Katrina - heartbreaking and inspiring – including one child who sang the blues:  

“Hurricane Katrina swept away, all my possessions into the bay.”

Rural Voices Radio is intended to develop student’s writing and thinking skills.  But because they represent real life in Mississippi, they serve as oral histories as well. 

Visit Mississippi’s Rural Voices Radio to see photographs of the budding writers and listen to their stories.

Using iPods in Oral History

“Wade in the Water: Memory and Community in the Delta”, presented by David Cunningham at the Mississippi Historical Society’s 2007 conference, illustrates an interesting way to use iPods in the recording and playing of oral history. 

Dr. Cunningham, who teaches Sociology at Brandeis University, brought a group of students to the Mississippi Delta (supported by Delta State University) to interview local people on topics such as civil rights, music, political and economic issues.  The students spent nine days based in Cleveland, Mississippi, while branching out to Clarksdale and other towns.  In each town, they first meet with local community members to explain their project in an attempt to really engage the townspeople. 

For interviews, they clipped a small microphone to the end of their iPods and set out to interview teachers, business owners, story tellers, etc. in their own environment, like the local barbershop.  They uploaded the iPod files to a laptop, edited them in Audacity, and are in the process of creating a Web site which will also contain photographs and other artifacts.  Playing excerpts for us, I was surprised at the quality of the audio.  It sounded very good.

Ultimately, they hope the podcasts will serve as “audio walking tours” of each town, of its history and culture, told through the stories and voices of the people who live there. 

The class blog expresses the experiences and reflections of students and teachers during the class trip.  One Brandeis student wrote about the common lament of “We have no jobs.” Another post mentioned how they took time out to teach an 8th grade class about podcasting and oral history. 

This class appears to be part of a larger initiative called the iPod Experience at Brandeis University.

Mississippi Historical Society Annual Meeting

I recently attended the Mississippi Historical Society’s annual meeting (March 1-3, 2007) in Jackson Mississippi.  This year’s theme was “Telling Mississippi’s Stories.”

This was my first time to attend the meeting and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 

Several speakers emphasized the importance of oral history.  

Charles C. Bolton: Oral histories go beyond just records and facts – they add flesh to the bones and create a more accurate picture of people and times.  Oral histories present a story from multiple points of view.  This is especially important when you are in a minority, because you don’t control the keeping of the records.    

James W. Loewan expanded on this idea even more.  His recent book Sundown Towns: A Hidden Dimension of American Racism examines towns in which blacks were not allowed after sundown.  Everyone knew the custom, although there were no official laws and thus no records.  So, the only way to shed light on this practice was through oral histories of people involved and affected. 

Daphne Chamberlain, a P.H.D. student studying children’s participation in the Jackson Civil Rights movement, said oral histories are time-consuming and difficult.  But they provide personal insight and add power to your story. 

One thing I noticed at the conference was… Although many examples were from the civil rights movement, integration, and race relations, there were very few blacks at the meeting, and only one black speaker.  I found this curious, but don’t really have an explanation for it.

Microphones – Part II

Last week, I conducted several one-on-one interviews using the Audio-Technica Pro24 microphone.  All the interviews were done around a kitchen table (or smaller table). 

I positioned the microphone between us, placing the mike a few inches off center, so that we were speaking at about a 70 degree angle to the front of the mike.  Centering the mike between the two of us would have meant we were speaking at about a 90% angle and thus into the side of the mike.  I don’t know if that makes any difference or not.  We sat about 18 inches from the mike, but I’m sure we moved around a bit.  (Will load a picture of the setup later.)

 Results (in terms of how the raw audio files sound):

• Listening through the M-Audio MicroTrack 24/96 recorder, the audio files sound good – crisp and clean.   The voices are way out front of any background noises.  Because the Audio-Technica Pro24 is a stereo mike, you can hear both voices in both speakers.  However, one voice is dominant on the left speaker; the other voice is dominant on the right.    
• Listening in Windows Media Player after uploading the files to the laptop, the audio sounds good as well, although I had to turn the volume up more than normal.  That concerns me a little.
• Burning to a CD and listening to the CD, the audio sounds very good.  (Which is good news.  I can easily burn the files onto a CD and give them to the interviewees.)

• Opening the files in Audacity, they sound good, but the waveform is much smaller (i.e. less amplitude) than previous audio files created using the Sennheiser MD 46 mike.  That concerns me.  

My next focus will be editing.  I am not sure how the audio will sound after being edited and exported as a MP3 file again.   It will also be interesting to see how the stereo effect impacts the editing process.

Lessons Learned From 1st Class Podcast

We played our first podcast in class (with some fairly powerful speakers), and it sounded pretty good.  I was concerned because sound quality sometimes changes as audio is edited and then exported again as an MP3 file.  But the sound quality held up. 

The podcast was a conversation among four class members where we each told a humorous story. 

The only problems were a few popping P’s and the occasional intake of air.  I think that is because I held the microphone right in front of my mouth rather than down to the side.  Adam Weiss, podcast consultant, has a great video that explains proper microphone placement. 

The other thing I learned is this:  There were four of us sharing a Sennheiser MD 46 cardioid mike, which meant we had to pass it back and forth as we talked, because the mike only picks up the speaker who has the mike pointed right at them.  That made editing easier because no one could talk on top of another person’s voice and there was no background noise.  There was a pause between speakers, but that was easy to edit out. 

However, passing the mike back and forth cut down on the interaction among us.  You can’t hear the spontaneous laughter and jokes.  

For my next podcast, I will be doing one-on-one interviews with my mother and aunts.  Because the interviews will probably last about an hour, the Sennheiser mike is out.  I don’t think it will work to pass the microphone back and forth.  So I will be using the Audio-Technica Pro24 mike.  The description says it is a double cardioid, but it seems to work like an omni-directional.  It picks up both speakers well and seems to be pretty forgiving if a speaker moves around a bit.  The problem is, it may pick up too much background noise.

“New Media” Class – Posting 1st podcast

I was going to post an mp3 file (of my first class project) on this blog.  I went to the Write Post page, thinking I could upload an audio file, similarly to how I upload a photo.  However, it appears that WordPress does not allow you to upload audio files. 

The file types that WordPress allows are jpg, png, gif, pdf, PowerPoint, and doc files.  However, last semester I wasn’t successful trying to upload a Word doc. 

In the FAQs, WordPress says that this policy was created for security reasons. 

It looks like the next thing to explore is how to upload the mp3 file to a site that WordPress allows access to. 

Microphones – Part I

I think microphones are the most confusing part of creating podcasts.  Most references describe microphones as dynamic versus condenser and directional versus omni-directional. They describe the pickup patterns in detail, which is good.  But what is missing is how to apply this information to specific situations.

For example, for this scenario, what microphone is best? I will be conducting oral history interviews. I will most likely be in someone’s home, sitting across the kitchen table from them, so approximately 3 feet from them. The interview will probably last 1 hour to 1 ½ hours.

So far, the best choices seem to be an omni-directional mic, a cardioid mic, or lavaliere mics.

In “Audio Field Recording Equipment Guide”, Andy Kolovos of The Vermont Folklife Center  says:

“For most ethnographic and oral history interviewing a decent dynamic mono mic – whether directional or omni-directional – will work great.  They are sturdy, less expensive and, since they don’t require an external power supply, less of a potential hassle than condenser mics.” 

Andy names several microphones that should do the trick, including the Audio Technica AT804 (omni-directional), which I’ve not had a chance to try, and Sennheiser MD-46 (cardioid), which is what we use in class.

The omni-directional microphone makes sense because you can put the mic on the table between the two of you and it will pick up both voices well. It’s more forgiving of placement, and less sensitive to handling noise and “plosives.” (That’s how I did interviews before when I was recording with a cassette recorder and an external RadioShack mic.)   The disadvantage is that you can pick up other noises in the room – the humming of appliances (most of my interviews seem to take place at the kitchen table), clocks, and other people if they come into the room.  Some of this is okay because it lends authenticity to the interview, but too much can be distracting and make it hard to hear both people, especially if one has a soft voice.

The cardioid mic, like the Sennheiser MD-46, doesn’t make as much sense to me.  Although it cuts down on background noise, based on my experience in class, it must be held two or three inches from the person’s mouth.  That seems impractical and awkward for an hour-long interview.    

Lavaliere mics seem to be the other common choice.  I tried one out in class last week.  It was quite loud (or “bright” as the instructor said) and seemed to pick up a lot of extraneous noise.  I don’t know as much about them, but unless they control the background noise, I’m not sure I see the advantage.  And there seems to be debate as to whether the interviewee forgets it’s there or, instead, “plays” with it throughout the interview.

I have a ways to go before I figure this out and make a decision.

Using New Media to Support Black History Month

Recently, I ran across the Museum of Broadcast Communications  which collects historic radio and television shows.  Many of them are available online. 

In honor of Black History Month, the museum is spotlighting interviews and documentaries featuring African Americans.  One such documentary, “I Sing Because I’m Happy“, is a tribute to the great Mahalia Jackson, created the week following her death in 1972.  It features one of her last interviews (amazing!) and two of her glorious performances.  Her opinions are very relevant today, and it is truly wonderful to listen to her sing.  She was magnificent!

 

Museum of Broadcast Communications. “From the Archives.”  2005, www.museum.tv/test.html (accessed 10 Feb 2007).

African American Movies at Allen Library

As part of its 2007 Black History Month Celebration, Allen Library in Allen, TX, is presenting four movies featuring all-black casts and/or African American themes.  The movies are shown every Tuesday night at 7:00 pm during the month of February.  Admission is free.

This past Tuesday, I went to see the first movie in the series, The Green Pastures, made in 1936.  It’s an entertaining movie that illustrates not only where we were in the 1930s in terms of film-making, but also in terms of racial stereotypes.  As a bonus, they showed an episode of the 1950s TV show, Beulah.

Next Tuesday, Feb 13, it’s Cabin in the Sky with Eddie “Rochester” Anderson, Ethel Waters, and Lena Horne.

Map to Allen Library.

Bill Clinton’s Legacy – Part 2: Using podcasts to record conferences

Ok, I should have clicked on through to Hofstra University’s 11th Presidential Conference featuring President William Jefferson Clinton.  (See previous post.)

There I would have found videotapes sessions of the conference, including Bill Clinton himself speaking at the conference.  Clinton spoke to Hofstra students about overcoming cynicism in political coverage, his priorities as president, and his thoughts on current topics, including Iraq.  Clinton said he believed “the overwhelming majority of people in politics, regardless of party and policy, are good, honest, hardworking people who did what they thought was right.”

Other videotapes sessions include Clinton administration officials such as Madeleine Albright (who emphasized the absolute importance of bipartisanship in foreign policy), Leon Panetta, Janet Reno, and William Perry. 

Each video runs approximately 1 hour to 1 1/2 hours.  Go straight to the video webcasts.